What is renewable energy

1
What is renewable energy?

• Presented by Chelan County PUD
• January 9, 2006

2
What isrenewable energy?

• Renewable energy refers to sources of energy that
  nature replenishes after they are used
• For instance, renewable hydroelectric power comes
  from the flow of water down rivers, lakes and
  streams. Every year the flow of water is
  replenished by snow and rain that fall in the
  mountains.

Rocky Reach Dam on the Columbia River
3
Renewable energy

• Wind turbines use the air to turn electric
  generators
• Solar panels are another form of renewable energy
  because they convert sunlight directly into
  electricity

Wind turbine near Peshastin
4
Renewable energy

• Only 7 percent of all the energy used in the
  United States comes from renewable sources
• The other 93 percent comes from coal, oil,
  natural gas or nuclear fuel that has been mined,
  pumped, or extracted from beneath the ground

Coal-fired plantPhoto by USGS
5
Hydropower

• In Washington, dams along the Columbia River and
  at other locations provide inexpensive
  electricity with no pollution
• Approximately 70 percent of the electricity used
  in Washington is produced by hydropower

Rocky Reach Dam
6
Hydropower

• Hydropower is a good complement to other
  renewable energy sources because it is always
  on whether the sun is shining or the wind is
  blowing

Rock Island Dam
Pioneer Middle School
Wyoming wind project Photo BPA
7
Electricity in your home

• Most of the electricity used in homes in Chelan
  County comes from hydropower
• 1 comes from wind and a very small fraction
  comes from solar power. But use of solar and wind
  power is growing

Leavenworth home
8
Measuring electricity

• Ten 100-watt light bulbs use 1,000 watts, which
  is 1 kilowatt (kW)
• One blow dryer uses about 1 kilowatt
• 1,000 blow dryers would use 1 million watts, or 1
  megawatt

PUD electric meter

• A blow dryer running for 1 hour uses 1 kilowatt
  hour (kWh)
• A blow dryer running for 2 hours uses 2 kilowatt
  hours
• Think of kilowatt hours as the number of times
  the disk on the electric meter spins around
• Chelan County avg. home uses 20,300 kWh a year

9
In the schools

• Solar stations at Chelan County schools each
  generate 1.3 kilowatts
• Each produces about as much as is needed to run
  classroom lights and computers
• By comparison, Rocky Reach Dam generates a
  million times more power

Solar panels at Washington Elementary
10
Solar power

• Solar technologies use the suns energy and light
  to provide heat, light, hot water, electricity,
  and even cooling for homes, businesses, and
  industry.
• Photovoltaic (PV) cells directly convert sunlight
  into electricity

11
Solar power

• The simplest solar cells power watches and
  calculators (and go-karts)
• More complex systems light houses and provide
  power to the electric grid

4th grade teacher Terry Gillespie helps student
12
Wind power

• A wind energy system transforms the kinetic
  energy of the wind into mechanical or electrical
  energy that can be harnessed for practical use
• The electricity generated by a wind turbine is
  collected and fed into utility power lines, where
  it is mixed with electricity from other power
  plants and delivered to utility customers
• Wind energy is the worlds fastest-growing energy
  source

13
Wind power

• Four large-scale wind farms are operating in
  Washington state, with four more in the planning
  stages
• Chelan County PUD is a partner in the Nine Canyon
  wind project southeast of the Tri-Cities

Nine Canyon wind project
14
Why use renewable energy?

• Coal, oil, and natural gas supplies are limited
• Burning fossil fuels pollutes our air and
  produces greenhouse gases which contribute to
  global warming
• Nuclear power brings safety concerns and waste
  disposal problems

15
Why use renewable energy?

• Renewable energy is clean and green
• The nations energy needs are expected to grow by
  33 percent over the next 20 years
• Renewable energy can help fill the gap

Beaver Valley School at Plain
Chelan County PUD January 9, 2006
16
Sources for teachers

• www.chelanpud.org/snap
• HYDROwww.chelanpud.orgwww.fwee.org
• SOLARhttp//users.applecapital.net/jim/solardrag
  race.htm www.rnp.org/RenewTech/tech_solar.htmlwww
  .solarwashington.org/www.solarwashington.org/Tour
  /ongoing/OngoingTour.htmwww.eere.energy.gov/kids/
  solar.htmlwww.eere.energy.gov/RE/solar.htmlwww.e
  nergy.wsu.edu/projects/renewables/solar.cfm
• WINDwww.energy-northwest.com/gen/ninecanyon/index
  .htmlwww.nwseed.org/www.awea.org/projects/washin
  gton.html